Shall We Dance?
by TinaK.Number1
Summary: She had only agreed to the dare for one reason. Cloud x Aeris oneshot


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. Characters and places belong to SquareEnix

* * *

Her eyes scanned the place thoroughly, trying to detect the undeniable spiky hair of Cloud. A smile reached her lips when her orbs fell on him in his usual place in the corner, a glass of some drink in front of him. She brushed down her sparkling green dress before she glanced up at the banister where Yuffie was holding her mouth to stop from laughing before she pointed over to the leader, clearly getting impatient. The girl on the stairs frowned and mouthed for her to calm down before she stepped onto the level wooden floor and strutted across the floor, ignoring the turned glances aimed at her, her mind telling her why she had to do this.

* * *

"_Okay, Aeris, truth, or dare?" Yuffie asked, propping herself up onto her elbows and staring at the flower girl intently. The brunette turned her eyes upwards as she thought it through. She had been boring so far, always going for truths so she decided to be a bit more fun._

"_Dare," she replied eventually. Tifa smiled with approval before she turned to Yuffie. The ninja was all but shaking with excitement. _

"_I know! I know!" she cried, leaping to her feet. Aeris and Tifa exchanged glances and it was obvious Aeris was beginning to regret her choice._

"_I dare you," Yuffie added, a smirk appearing on her lips. "to get Cloud to dance with you." She folded her arms proudly before she turned her head to where Barret and Cid had choked on their drinks as they watched the match. Nanaki gave a small chuckle by the fire and Cait Sith just shook his head before saying._

"_Make it a possible dare Yuffie," _

"_Hey!" the ninja yelled indignantly. "It is a possible dare!"_

"_I highly doubt Cloud will dance," Vincent suddenly spoke up as he looked gloomily out of the window._

"_It will be interesting anyways," Nanaki added as he stretched and sat up. Yuffie ignored the comments and turned to Aeris._

"_Well, I think you'll manage fine but first, we've got to get a really sexy outfit!"_

* * *

Cloud slowly turned his gaze towards her as he heard her heels and he had to do a double take, his eyes travelling down her body. She was wearing a flouty, dark green dress that stopped at her knees, showing off her long, elegant legs. The top was held with spaghetti straps and hung quite low, showing off her cleavage. The leader could have sworn that he was blushing at the sight. He never would have imagined Aeris to ever wear something like that.

"Do you want to dance?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in as cute a manner as possible. He sighed and flopped back against the seat as he downed the rest of the brown liquid and placed the glass on the table. He slowly looked up at her with a small smile.

"I don't dance," he replied.

Aeris was about to answer when she felt someone grab her wrist. She turned her head to see a brown-haired man standing next to her, looking her up and down.

"Can I have a dance?" he slurred, his breath reeking of alcohol. Aeris turned her head away and tried to politely, yet roughly push his hands away.

"I've already got a partner thanks," she answered. The man glanced at Cloud who was scowling at him, his lips in a set line. Aeris didn't think she had ever seen him so angry.

"What, him?" he asked, giving a smirk in Cloud's direction. "Come on, just one dance,"

"She said she doesn't want to dance with you," Cloud growled, standing up. The man looked him up and down before he finally let Aeris go, shoving roughly towards the blonde.

"I don't want her anyways," he sneered before stumbling off. Cloud glared after him before he looked to Aeris, who was smiling gently at him.

"Thanks," she whispered before she grabbed his hand, throwing a smirk.

"Now, back to that dance you were going to give me!"

"Huh?" the blonde choked out but couldn't get anything else out before she was dragging him onto the dance floor. He flushed as people glanced at them, glancing around nervously.

"People will stare more if you just stand there," the flower girl whispered as she put his hand on his waist and held his other hand, putting her right on his shoulder. Just as they were about to start, the music changed and Cloud's blush intensified as he realised it was a slow song:

_**There's a calm surrender**_

_**To the rush of day**_

_**When the heat of a rolling whim**_

_**Can't be turned away**_

****

"Just follow me," she whispered softly, throwing a confident smile at him before she took a slow step back, Cloud stepping forwards.

_**An enchanted moment**_

_**And it sees me through**_

_**It's enough for this restless warrior**_

_**Just to be with you**_

****

Cloud soon became more confident, forgetting that there were other people around as he watched Aeris twirl around and fall back into his arms, her eyes sparkling in the dim light. She raised an eyebrow as a question fell from her lips.

"Why do you never dance when you're actually quite good at it?"

_**And can you feel the love tonight?**_

_**It is where we are**_

_**It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer**_

_**That we got this far**_

****

"I didn't think I was that great since no one ever asked me to the school dances," he replied as he moved his hand from her waist to gently take the one on his shoulder.

_**And can you feel the love tonight?**_

_**How it's laid to rest**_

**_It's enough to make Kings and Vagabonds_**

_**Believe the very best**_

****

The music began to fade, signalling the end of the song and Cloud slowly lowered their still connected hands, his eyes watching them instead of looking at Aeris' face. The woman was about to say something when he suddenly looked up, giving her a shy smile.

"Come on, let's sit down for a while," he insisted leading her to the seat he had been sitting on before.

She placed her elbows on the surface, cupping her face in her hands as she stared at him from beneath her dark eyelashes. Cloud remained silent occasionally glancing at her or moving his empty glass across the table.

"So…why were you so keen to dance?" he asked softly, looking at her properly now.

The question caught her off guard and she slowly lowered her arms and gave a small sigh as she fiddled with the fabric of her dress.

"Honestly?" she sighed again before locking eyes with him. "It was a dare," she admitted, watching as Cloud looked away from her.

"I thought…I thought it was because…" he began but couldn't seem able to finish the sentence, instead just looking solemnly to the floor.

Aeris suddenly felt guilty for what she had done even if it had been Yuffie's idea there was no need for her to agree to it, though a part of her had always wanted to have a slow dance with Cloud ever since she realised her true feelings for him. Now, however, she hated that she had hurt him just to get what she wanted and it was made worse by the fact that she hated being selfish and had now just completely blown her whole belief of being as unselfish as possible from her personality. She knew that telling the truth would probably hurt Cloud more but she needed to let him now why she had agreed to it.

"I only went along with it for one reason," she explained, and became upset when Cloud still didn't look at her. She stopped for a moment before she took a breath. She wasn't about to let Cloud's actions stop her from admitting to her fault.

"And the reason was because I…like you…I mean, really like you," she admitted, her cheeks starting to burn as his gaze landed on her once more.

She hated the fact that he had not said anything and it made her shift uncomfortably, her eyes fixed on her clasped hands and biting her lip nervously. She jumped as his hand was gently placed upon his and she gazed at him quizzically, her confusion heightening as she saw a smile spread across his lips. A true, genuine smile.

"Cloud?"

The word had barely escaped her lips when he leaned over and gently pressed his against hers, her eyes widening in shock and she barely had time to register what had happened when he pulled away.

"That's all I needed to know," he whispered softly.

* * *


End file.
